There were tears in Tom Pidcock’s eyes in the Piazza del Campo at the end of Strade Bianche. Tears of frustration, brought on by an untimely bike mechanical, and also, in his words, a feeling of “sombreness” following another display of Tadej Pogačar dominance.
The Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling rider was one of the few to be with the world champion on the Monte Sante Marie sector with 79km to go of the race, and briefly appeared able to follow the Slovenian, until his chain slipped and the race was gone.
“With UAE like that, there’s not much you can do. My chain fell off twice on Sante Marie, that really killed my momentum, but I wouldn’t have beaten Tadej anyway.
“I don’t think it changed much apart from taking a bit more out of me. It’s so difficult in the group behind when you know the race has gone. You can always think this is just the race now, but it’s not really how it is, when one guy’s in front.”
Did Pidcock ever feel that the gap could be closed? “At one point, yeah,” he said. “But I think that’s a pretty big gap when people are thinking about the final.”
The British rider still remains the last person not called Tadej Pogačar to win Strade Bianche, doing so in 2023. If the Slovenian keeps coming back to the Tuscan Classic, it’s hard to see that statistic changing.
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